Scheduling method, base station, terminal and storage medium

ABSTRACT

A scheduling method, performed by a base station, includes determining scheduled transmission units according to a scheduling rule, wherein the scheduling rule is configured to specify that in case that a plurality of transmission units that are continuous in a time domain have been scheduled, a remaining plurality of transmission units are scheduled when the remaining plurality of transmission units are discontinuous in the time domain, which is caused by occupied transmission units existing in the plurality of transmission units that are continuous in the time domain, wherein a terminal is configured to determine the scheduled transmission units according to the scheduling rule.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present disclosure claims the benefit of and is a continuation ofU.S. application Ser. No. 16/955,612, filed Jun. 18, 2020, which is anational phase application based on PCT/CN2017/119031, filed Dec. 27,2017, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology,and more particularly to a scheduling method, a base station, aterminal, and a storage medium.

BACKGROUND

In the communication system, data transmission between a base stationand a terminal is implemented based on the scheduling of the basestation. The base station transmits a scheduling signaling to theterminal, wherein the scheduling signaling is used for indicating alocation of a scheduled transmission unit. The terminal receives thescheduling signaling, so as to determine the location of thetransmission unit according to the scheduling signaling. Then, the basestation exchanges data with the terminal through the scheduledtransmission unit.

Generally, one scheduling signal only indicates the location of onetransmission unit. However, communication systems are constantlyevolving with the continuous emergence of new Internet applications.Accordingly, the current communication systems provide a plurality ofservice types, such as eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broad Band). URLLC (UltraReliable Low Latency Communication), mMTC (massive Machine TypeCommunication), and the like. Considering that different service typeshave different requirements for the communication system, a moreflexible scheduling method is proposed, which may transmit a schedulingsignaling in any symbol in a slot, wherein there are a plurality ofcontinuous symbols in a time domain in one slot, and the schedulingsignaling is used for indicating that the plurality of symbols that arecontinuous in the time domain serve as transmission units to bescheduled.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, ascheduling method is provided. The method is applied to a base station,and includes:

transmitting a scheduling signaling to a terminal, wherein thescheduling signaling includes indication information for indicating aplurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in a time domain,and the terminal is configured to receive the scheduling signaling anddetermine the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous inthe time domain according to the indication information; and

exchanging data with the terminal through the plurality of transmissionunits.

According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, ascheduling method is provided. The method is applied to a terminal, andincludes:

receiving a scheduling signaling transmitted by a base station, whereinthe scheduling signaling includes indication information for indicatinga plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in a timedomain;

determining the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuousin the time domain according to the indication information; and

exchanging data with the base station through the plurality oftransmission units.

According to a third aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, abase station is provided. The base station includes:

a processor; and

a memory, which is configured to store processor-executableinstructions;

wherein the processor is configured to:

transmit a scheduling signaling to a terminal, wherein the schedulingsignaling includes indication information for indicating a plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in a time domain, and theterminal is configured to receive the scheduling signaling and determinethe plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in the timedomain according to the indication information; and

exchange data with the terminal through the plurality of transmissionunits.

According to a fourth aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, aterminal is provided. The terminal includes:

a processor; and

a memory, which is configured to store processor-executableinstructions;

wherein the processor is configured to:

receive a scheduling signaling transmitted by a base station, whereinthe scheduling signaling includes indication information for indicatinga plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in a timedomain;

determine the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous inthe time domain according to the indication information; and

exchange data with the base station through the plurality oftransmission units.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary only and are notintended to limit the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with thepresent disclosure, and together with the description, serve to explainthe principles of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a scheduling method according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a scheduling method according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a scheduling method according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of one slot according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a scheduling method according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a base station according to anexemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a terminal according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a base station according to anexemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a terminal according to an exemplaryembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make the objective, the technical solution and theadvantages of the present disclosure apparent, the present disclosurewill be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings andembodiments. Here, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure andthe description thereof are used to explain the present disclosure, butare not intended to limit the present disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a scheduling method, abase station, a terminal, and a storage medium. The present disclosurewill be described in detail below with reference to accompanyingdrawings.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a scheduling method applied to a base station,according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1 , the methodincludes the following steps.

In step 101, the base station transmits a scheduling signaling to aterminal, wherein the scheduling signaling includes indicationinformation for indicating a plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in a time domain, and the terminal is configured toreceive the scheduling signaling and determine the plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain accordingto the indication information.

In step 102, the base station exchanges data with the terminal throughthe plurality of transmission units.

According to the method provided in the embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the base station transmits the scheduling signaling to theterminal, wherein the scheduling signaling includes indicationinformation for indicating the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain; the terminal receives the schedulingsignaling and determines the scheduled plurality of transmission unitsthat are discontinuous in the time domain according to the indicationinformation; and the base station may exchange data with the terminalthrough the scheduled plurality of transmission units. Embodiments ofthe present disclosure provide a method for scheduling a plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain, therebybreaking the limitation that only the plurality of transmission unitsthat are continuous in the time domain can be scheduled, which improvesflexibility, effectively supports a plurality of service types, andexpands the service scope.

In a possible implementation, the indication information includeslocation information of the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain;

the location information of the transmission units includes startlocations and end locations of the transmission units; or

the location information of the transmission units includes startlocations and continuation lengths of the transmission units, and endlocations of the transmission units are determined by the startlocations and the continuation lengths of the transmission units.

By carrying the location information of the plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in the time domain in the schedulingsignaling, the scheduled transmission units may be intuitively andaccurately indicated.

In another possible implementation, the method further includes:

-   -   transmitting a transmission unit index table to the terminal,        wherein the transmission unit index table includes location        information of the plurality of transmission units that are        discontinuous in the time domain corresponding to each index        identifier; and

the indication information is the index identifier, and the terminal isconfigured to receive the scheduling signaling, query the transmissionunit index table according to the index identifier, and determine thelocation information of the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain corresponding to the index identifier.

The base station first transmits the transmission unit index table tothe terminal, then the scheduling signaling transmitted by the basestation to the terminal only needs to carry index identifier during eachscheduling is carried out, without carrying the location information ofthe plurality of transmission units, and the location information of theplurality of transmission units can be obtained by querying thetransmission unit index table. Accordingly, the data volume is reducedand the network resources are saved.

In another possible implementation, the method further includes:

transmitting a transmission unit index table to a terminal, wherein thetransmission unit index table includes a transmission unit configurationcorresponding to each index identifier, the transmission unitconfiguration includes a scheduling identifier for each transmissionunit, the scheduling identifier is a first identifier indicating that acorresponding transmission unit is scheduled, or the schedulingidentifier is a second identifier indicating that a correspondingtransmission unit is not scheduled; and

the indication information is the index identifier, and the terminal isconfigured to receive the scheduling signaling, query the transmissionunit index table according to the index identifier, determine atransmission unit configuration corresponding to the index identifier,and determine transmission units for which the scheduling identifier isthe first identifier in the transmission unit configuration as scheduledtransmission units.

The base station first transmits the transmission unit index table tothe terminal, then the scheduling signaling transmitted by the basestation to the terminal only needs to carry index identifier during thescheduling is carried out each time, without carrying the transmissionunit configuration, and the transmission unit configuration can beobtained by querying the transmission unit index table. Accordingly, thedata volume is reduced and the network resources are saved.

In another possible implementation, the indication information ispositioned in an information field at a fixed location of the schedulingsignaling, and a bit length of the indication information is fixed ordetermined by configuration.

In another possible implementation, the method further includes:

determining scheduled transmission units according to a scheduling rule;wherein the scheduling rule is configured to specify that in case that aplurality of transmission units that are continuous in a time domainhave been scheduled, remaining plurality of transmission units arescheduled when the remaining plurality of transmission units arediscontinuous in the time domain caused by occupied transmission unitsexisting in the plurality of transmission units that are continuous inthe time domain, and the terminal is configured to determine thescheduled transmission units according to the scheduling rule.

By predefining the scheduling rule, it is possible to instruct thescheduling of the remaining transmission units in case that theplurality of transmission units that are continuous in the time domainhave been scheduled but some transmission units are occupied.Accordingly, it not only provides a method for scheduling the pluralityof transmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain, butalso avoids the waste of the transmission units.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a scheduling method applied to a terminal,according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2 , the methodincludes the following steps.

In step 201, the terminal receives a scheduling signaling transmitted bya base station, wherein the scheduling signaling includes indicationinformation for indicating a plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in a time domain.

In step 202, the terminal determines the plurality of transmission unitsthat are discontinuous in the time domain according to the indicationinformation.

In step 203, the terminal exchanges data with the base station throughthe plurality of transmission units.

According to the method provided in the embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the terminal receives the scheduling signaling transmittedby the base station, wherein the scheduling signaling includesindication information for indicating the plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in the time domain; the terminal determinesthe scheduled plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous inthe time domain according to the indication information; and theterminal may exchange data with the base station through the pluralityof transmission units. Embodiments of the present disclosure provide amethod for scheduling a plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain, thereby breaking the limitation thatonly the plurality of transmission units that are continuous in the timedomain can be scheduled, which improves flexibility, effectivelysupports a plurality of service types, and expands the service scope.

In a possible implementation, the indication information includeslocation information of the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain;

the location information of the transmission units includes startlocations and end locations of the transmission units; or

the location information of the transmission units includes startlocations and continuation lengths of the transmission units, and endlocations of the transmission units are determined by the startlocations and the continuation lengths of the transmission units.

By carrying the location information of the plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in the time domain in the schedulingsignaling, the scheduled transmission units may be intuitively andaccurately indicated, and the terminal may directly determine thescheduled transmission units according to the location informationcarried in the scheduling signaling.

In another possible implementation, the indication information is anindex identifier, and the determining the plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in the time domain according to theindication information includes:

querying a transmission unit index table according to the indexidentifier, and determining location information of the plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domaincorresponding to the index identifier, wherein the transmission unitindex table includes the location information of the plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domaincorresponding to each index identifier.

By setting the transmission unit index table, the scheduling signalingtransmitted by the base station to the terminal only needs to carryindex identifier during each scheduling is carried out, without carryingthe location information of the plurality of transmission units, and thelocation information of the plurality of transmission units can beobtained by querying the transmission unit index table. Accordingly, thedata volume is reduced and the network resources are saved.

In another possible implementation, the indication information is anindex identifier, and the determining the plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in the time domain according to theindication information includes:

querying a transmission unit index table according to the indexidentifier, determining a transmission unit configuration correspondingto the index identifier, and determining transmission units that ascheduling identifier is a first identifier in the transmission unitconfiguration as scheduled transmission units, wherein the transmissionunit index table includes the transmission unit configurationcorresponding to each index identifier, the transmission unitconfiguration includes the scheduling identifier for each transmissionunit, the scheduling identifier is the first identifier indicating thata corresponding transmission unit is scheduled, or the schedulingidentifier is a second identifier indicating that a correspondingtransmission unit is not scheduled.

By setting the transmission unit index table, during each scheduling,the scheduling signaling transmitted by the base station to the terminalonly needs to carry index identifier during the scheduling is carriedout each time, without carrying the transmission unit configuration, andthe transmission unit configuration can be obtained by querying thetransmission unit index table. Accordingly, the data volume is reducedand the network resources are saved.

In another possible implementation, the indication information ispositioned in an information field at a fixed location of the schedulingsignaling, and a bit length of the indication information is fixed ordetermined by a configuration.

In another possible implementation, the method further includes:

determining scheduled transmission units according to a scheduling rule;wherein the scheduling rule is configured to specify that in case that aplurality of transmission units that are continuous in a time domainhave been scheduled, remaining plurality of transmission units arescheduled when the remaining plurality of transmission units arediscontinuous in the time domain caused by occupied transmission unitsexisting in the plurality of transmission units that are continuous inthe time domain, and the base station is configured to determine thescheduled transmission units according to the scheduling rule.

By predefining the scheduling rule, it is possible to instruct thescheduling of the remaining transmission units in case that theplurality of transmission units that are continuous in the time domainhave been scheduled but some transmission units are occupied.Accordingly, it not only provides a method for scheduling the pluralityof transmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain, butalso avoids the waste of the transmission units.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a scheduling method according to an exemplaryembodiment. A base station and a terminal serve as an interactivesubject. As shown in FIG. 3 , the method includes the following steps.

In step 301, the base station transmits a scheduling signaling to theterminal, wherein the scheduling signaling includes indicationinformation for indicating a plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in a time domain.

Among them, the scheduling signaling is a signaling for determiningscheduled transmission units, such as DCI (Downlink Control Information)or other signaling.

The transmission units are a resource set for carrying data transmissionin a frequency domain, sch as one or more REs (Resource Element), or oneor more RBs (Resource Block), or other types of frequency domain units.The transmission units are a resource set for carrying data transmissionin the time domain, such as symbols, slots, subframes, or radio frames,or other types of time domain units.

The scheduling signaling may schedule one or more data packets, that is,the plurality of transmission units scheduled by the schedulingsignaling may carry the data transmission for one data packet, or maycarry the data transmission for a plurality of data packets.

In a possible implementation, the indication information is added in aninformation field at a fixed location of the scheduling signaling. Theterminal may obtain the indication information from the informationfield at the fixed location in the scheduling signaling when receivingthe scheduling signaling. Moreover, a bit length of the indicationinformation may be fixed or determined by configuration.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the indication informationmay include location information of the plurality of transmission unitsthat are discontinuous in the time domain, and the locations of theplurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in the timedomain may be determined according to the indication information, sothat these discontinuous transmission units in the time domain aredetermined as the transmission units to be scheduled.

In a first possible implementation, the location information of thetransmission units includes start locations and end locations of thetransmission units, that is, the indication information includes a startlocation and an end location of each transmission unit in the pluralityof transmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain. FIG. 4is a schematic diagram of one slot according to an exemplary embodiment.With reference to FIG. 4 , one slot includes a plurality of symbols, anda scheduling signaling DCI is transmitted on the first symbol in theslot. The indication information is (start location 1, end location 1).(start location 2, end location 2), and the two discontinuoustransmission units in the time domain indicated by the indicationinformation are shown in FIG. 4 .

In a second possible implementation, the location information of thetransmission unit includes start locations and continuation lengths ofthe transmission units, and end locations of the transmission units aredetermined by the start locations and the continuation lengths of thetransmission units. That is, the indication information includes a startlocation and a continuation length of each transmission unit in theplurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in the timedomain. With reference to FIG. 4 , if the indication information is{start location 1, continuation length=3 symbols}, {start location 2,continuation length=4 symbols}, the two discontinuous transmission unitsin the time domain indicated by the indication information are shown inFIG. 4 .

In step 302, the terminal receives a scheduling signaling, anddetermines the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous inthe time domain according to the indication information.

If the instruction information includes the start location and the endlocation of each transmission unit in the plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in the time domain, a location of eachtransmission unit is determined according to the start location and theend location of each transmission unit, and further locations of theplurality of transmission units are determined.

If the indication information includes the start location and thecontinuation length of each transmission unit in the plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain, the endlocation of each transmission unit is determined according to the startlocation and the continuation length location of each transmission unit.Accordingly, the location of each transmission unit may be determinedaccording to the start location and the end location of eachtransmission unit, and further the locations of the plurality oftransmission units may be determined.

In step 303, the base station exchanges data with the terminal throughthe plurality of transmission units.

The determined plurality of transmission units are the transmissionunits used when the base station exchanges data with the terminal. In adownlink process, the base station transmits data through the pluralityof transmission units, the terminal receives data through the pluralityof transmission units. In an uplink process, the terminal transmits datathrough the plurality of transmission units, the base station receivesdata through the plurality of transmission units.

It should be noted that these embodiments only describe a process forscheduling the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous inthe time domain. In practical applications, the plurality oftransmission units that are continuous in the time domain may further bescheduled. Moreover, the scheduling rule may be set. The scheduling ruleis used to specify that in case that the plurality of transmission unitsthat are continuous in the time domain have been scheduled, remainingplurality of transmission units are scheduled when the remainingplurality of transmission units are discontinuous in the time domaincaused by occupied transmission units existing in the plurality oftransmission units that are continuous in the time domain. Moreover, ina data exchanging process, the base station and the terminal determinethe transmission unit to be scheduled according to the scheduling rule,that is, in a case where the plurality of transmission units that arecontinuous in the time domain have been scheduled, when occupiedtransmission units exist in the plurality of transmission units that arecontinuous in the time domain, resulting that the remaining plurality oftransmission units are discontinuous in the time domain, the basestation exchanges the data with the terminal through the remainingplurality of transmission units.

For example, when the base station has scheduled three continuoustransmission units in the time domain: a transmission unit 1, atransmission unit 2 and a transmission unit 3, but the transmission unit2 is occupied, the terminal may transmit the data through thetransmission unit 1 and the transmission unit 3 according to thescheduling rule; and the base station may receive the data through thetransmission unit 1 and the transmission unit 3 according to thescheduling rule.

In practical applications, the scheduling rule may be predefined in acommunication protocol between the base station and the terminal, or maybe transmitted to the terminal by the base station through an RRCsignaling, a MAC CE, or a physical layer signaling.

According to the method provided by the embodiments of the presentdisclosure, the base station transmits a scheduling signaling to theterminal, wherein the scheduling signaling includes the indicationinformation for indicating the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain; the terminal receives the schedulingsignaling and determines the scheduled plurality of transmission unitsthat are discontinuous in the time domain according to the indicationinformation; and the base station may exchange data with the terminalthrough the plurality of transmission units. Embodiments of the presentdisclosure provide a method for scheduling a plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in the time domain, thereby breaking thelimitation that only the plurality of transmission units that arecontinuous in the time domain can be scheduled, which improvesflexibility, effectively supports a plurality of service types, andexpands the service scope.

Moreover, by predefining the scheduling rule, it is possible to instructthe scheduling of the remaining transmission units in case that theplurality of transmission units that are continuous in the time domainhave been scheduled but some transmission units are occupied.Accordingly, it not only provides a method for scheduling the pluralityof transmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain, butalso avoids the waste of the transmission units.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a scheduling method according to an exemplaryembodiment. A base station and a terminal serve as an interactivesubject. As shown in FIG. 5 , the method includes the following steps.

In step 501, the base station transmits a transmission unit index tableto the terminal.

The transmission unit index table includes a plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in a time domain corresponding to eachindex identifier.

In a first possible implementation, the transmission unit index tableincludes location information of the plurality of transmission unitsthat are discontinuous in the time domain corresponding to each indexidentifier, and the location information may include start locations andend locations, or include start locations and continuation lengths. Thelocation information of the plurality of corresponding transmissionunits may be determined according to the transmission unit index tableprovided that the index identifier of this scheduling is determined.

For example, the transmission unit index table may be shown in Table 1below.

TABLE 1 Index Identifier Transmission Unit 1 {start location 1,continuation length 1}; {start location 2, continuation length 2} 2{start location 1, continuation length 1}; (stall location 2,continuation length 2}; {start location 3, continuation length 3} 3{start location 1, continuation length 1}; {start location 2,continuation length 2}; {start location 3, continuation length 3};{start location 4, continuation length 4}

In a second possible implementation, the transmission unit index tableincludes a transmission unit configuration corresponding to each indexidentifier, the transmission unit configuration includes a schedulingidentifier for each transmission unit, the scheduling identifier is afirst identifier indicating a corresponding transmission unit isscheduled, and the scheduling identifier is the second identifierindicating that a corresponding transmission unit is not scheduled. Thecorresponding transmission unit configuration may be determinedaccording to the transmission unit index table provided that the indexidentifier of this scheduling is determined, and further it isdetermined that which transmission units are scheduled. Among them, thefirst identifier is different from the second identifier, for example,the first identifier is 1 and the second identifier is 0.

For example, the transmission unit index table may be as shown in Table2 below. There are 14 symbols in one slot, a scheduling identifier 1corresponding to one symbol indicates that the symbol is scheduled, anda scheduling identifier 0 corresponding to one symbol indicates thesymbol is not scheduled.

TABLE 2 Index Transmission Unit Identifier Configuration 1{11111111111111} 2 (11110001111000} 3 {11100001110000} 4{11100001110011}

The base station may transmit the transmission unit index table througha plurality of methods, such as an RRC (Radio Resource Control)signaling, a MAC (Media Access Control), a CE (Control Element), or aphysical layer signaling.

In step 502, the terminal receives and stores the transmission unitindex table.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the present disclosure isexemplified only by transmitting the transmission unit index table tothe terminal by the base station. In fact, the above steps 501 and 502are optional steps. In another embodiment, the transmission unit indextable may be predefined in a communication protocol between the basestation and the terminal, without being transmitted to the terminal bythe base station.

In step 503, the base station transmits a scheduling signaling to theterminal, wherein the scheduling signaling includes indicationinformation for indicating the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain, and the indication information is anindex identifier.

When the base station carries out scheduling, the scheduling signalingdoes not need to carry the location information of transmission units tobe scheduled, but only needs to carry the index identifier. The locationinformation of transmission units to be scheduled is indexed by usingthe index identifier.

In step 504, the terminal receives the scheduling signaling, queries atransmission unit index table according to the index identifier, anddetermines the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous inthe time domain corresponding to the index identifier.

When receiving the scheduling signaling, the terminal obtains the indexidentifier therefrom, and queries the transmission unit index tableaccording to the index identifier.

In a first possible implementation, the transmission unit index tableincludes location information of the plurality of transmission unitsthat are discontinuous in the time domain corresponding to each indexidentifier, and the location information of the plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domaincorresponding to the index identifier may be determined by querying thetransmission unit index table according to the index identifier, andthus, the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in thetime domain corresponding to the index identifier may be determined.

Based on the example in Table 1 above, when the index identifier in thescheduling signaling is 2, then it is determined that the locationinformation of the plurality of corresponding transmission units is{start location 1, continuation length 1}; {start location 2.Continuation length 2}; {start location 3, continuation length 3}, sothat the three scheduled transmission units may be determined accordingto the location information.

In a second possible implementation, the transmission unit index tableincludes a transmission unit configuration corresponding to each indexidentifier, the transmission unit configuration corresponding to theindex identifier may be determined by querying the transmission unitindex table according to the index identifier, and transmission unitsfor which the scheduling identifier is a first identifier in thetransmission unit configuration may be determined as scheduledtransmission units, and thus the plurality of transmission units thatare discontinuous in the time domain corresponding to the indexidentifier may be determined.

Based on the example in Table 2 above, when the index identifier in thescheduling signaling is 3, the corresponding transmission unitconfiguration is 11100001110000}, and the first symbol, the secondsymbol, the third symbol, the eighth symbol, the ninth symbol and thetenth symbol in the slot in which the scheduling signaling is locatedare determined as scheduled transmission units.

In step 505, the base station exchanges the data with the terminalthrough the plurality of transmission units.

It should be noted that these embodiments only describe a process forscheduling the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous inthe time domain. In practical applications, the plurality oftransmission units that are continuous in the time domain may further bescheduled. Moreover, the base station may transmit a scheduling rule tothe terminal. The scheduling rule is used to specify that in case thatthe plurality of transmission units that are continuous in the timedomain have been scheduled, remaining plurality of transmission unitsare scheduled when the remaining plurality of transmission units arediscontinuous in the time domain caused by occupied transmission unitsexisting in the plurality of transmission units that are continuous inthe time domain. The terminal stores the scheduling rule, and in a dataexchanging process, the base station and the terminal determinetransmission units to be scheduled according to the scheduling rule,that is, in a case where the plurality of transmission units that arecontinuous in the time domain have been scheduled, when occupiedtransmission units exist in the plurality of transmission units that arecontinuous in the time domain, resulting that the remaining plurality oftransmission units are discontinuous in the time domain, the basestation exchanges the data with the terminal through the remainingplurality of transmission units.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the presentdisclosure, the base station transmits a scheduling signaling to theterminal, wherein the scheduling signaling includes the indicationinformation for indicating the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain; the terminal receives the schedulingsignaling and determines the scheduled plurality of transmission unitsthat are discontinuous in the time domain according to the indicationinformation; and the base station may exchange data with the terminalthrough the plurality of transmission units. Embodiments of the presentdisclosure provide a method for scheduling a plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in the time domain, thereby breaking thelimitation that only the plurality of transmission units that arecontinuous in the time domain can be scheduled, which improvesflexibility, effectively supports a plurality of service types, andexpands the service scope.

Moreover, the base station first transmits the transmission unit indextable to the terminal, then the scheduling signaling transmitted by thebase station to the terminal only needs to carry index identifier duringeach scheduling is carried out, without carrying the locationinformation of the plurality of transmission units or transmission unitconfiguration. Accordingly, the data volume is reduced and the networkresources are saved.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a base station according to anexemplary embodiment. With reference to FIG. 6 , the base stationincludes a scheduling module 601 and an interaction module 602.

The scheduling module 601 is configured to transmit a schedulingsignaling to a terminal, wherein the scheduling signaling includesindication information for indicating a plurality of transmission unitsthat are discontinuous in a time domain, and the terminal is configuredto receive the scheduling signaling and determine the plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain accordingto the indication information.

The interaction module 602 is configured to exchange data with theterminal through the plurality of transmission units.

In a possible implementation, the indication information includeslocation information of the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain;

the location information of the transmission units includes startlocations and end locations of the transmission units; or

the location information of the transmission units includes startlocations and continuation lengths of the transmission units, and endlocations of the transmission units are determined by the startlocations and the continuation lengths of the transmission units.

In another possible implementation, the base station further includes:

a first transmission module configured to transmit a transmission unitindex table to the terminal, wherein the transmission unit index tableincludes location information of the plurality of transmission unitsthat are discontinuous in the time domain corresponding to each indexidentifier;

wherein the indication information is the index identifier, and theterminal is configured to receive the scheduling signaling, query thetransmission unit index table according to the index identifier, anddetermine the location information of the plurality of transmissionunits that are discontinuous in the time domain corresponding to theindex identifier.

In another possible implementation, the base station further includes:

a second transmission module configured to transmit a transmission unitindex table to the terminal, wherein the transmission unit index tableincludes a transmission unit configuration corresponding to each indexidentifier, the transmission unit configuration includes a schedulingidentifier for each transmission unit, the scheduling identifier is afirst identifier indicating that a corresponding transmission unit isscheduled, or the scheduling identifier is a second identifierindicating that a corresponding transmission unit is not scheduled;

wherein the indication information is the index identifier, and theterminal is configured to receive the scheduling signaling, query thetransmission unit index table according to the index identifier,determine a transmission unit configuration corresponding to the indexidentifier, and determine transmission units for which the schedulingidentifier is the first identifier in the transmission unitconfiguration as scheduled transmission units.

In another possible implementation, the indication information ispositioned in an information field at a fixed location of the schedulingsignaling, and a bit length of the indication information is fixed ordetermined by configuration.

In another possible implementation, the scheduling module 601 is furtherconfigured to determine scheduled transmission units according to ascheduling rule; wherein the scheduling rule is configured to specifythat in case that a plurality of transmission units that are continuousin a time domain have been scheduled, remaining plurality oftransmission units are scheduled when the remaining plurality oftransmission units are discontinuous in the time domain caused byoccupied transmission units existing in the plurality of transmissionunits that are continuous in the time domain, and the terminal isconfigured to determine the scheduled transmission units according tothe scheduling rule.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a terminal according to an exemplaryembodiment. With reference to FIG. 7 , the terminal includes a firstreception module 701, a first determination module 702 and aninteraction module 703.

The first reception module 701 is configured to receive a schedulingsignaling transmitted by a base station, wherein the schedulingsignaling includes indication information for indicating a plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in a time domain.

The first determination module 702 is configured to determine theplurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in the timedomain according to the indication information.

The interaction module 703 is configured to exchange data with the basestation through the plurality of transmission units.

In another possible implementation, the indication information includeslocation information of the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain;

the location information of the transmission units includes startlocations and end locations of the transmission units; or

the location information of the transmission units includes startlocations and continuation lengths of the transmission units, and endlocations of the transmission units are determined by the startlocations and the continuation lengths of the transmission units.

In another possible implementation, the indication information is anindex identifier, and the first determination module 702 is furtherconfigured to query a transmission unit index table according to theindex identifier, and determine location information of the plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domaincorresponding to the index identifier, wherein the transmission unitindex table includes the location information of the plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domaincorresponding to each index identifier.

In another possible implementation, the indication information is anindex identifier, and the first determination module 702 is furtherconfigured to query a transmission unit index table according to theindex identifier, determine a transmission unit configurationcorresponding to the index identifier, and determine a transmission unitthat a scheduling identifier is a first identifier in the transmissionunit configuration as scheduled transmission units, wherein thetransmission unit index table includes the transmission unitconfiguration corresponding to each index identifier, the transmissionunit configuration includes the scheduling identifier for eachtransmission unit, the scheduling identifier is the first identifierindicating that a corresponding transmission unit is scheduled, or thescheduling identifier is a second identifier indicating that acorresponding transmission unit is not scheduled.

In another possible implementation, the indication information ispositioned in an information field at a fixed location of the schedulingsignaling, and a bit length of the indication information is fixed ordetermined by configuration.

In another possible implementation, the terminal further includes:

a second determination module configured to determine scheduledtransmission units according to a scheduling rule; wherein thescheduling rule is configured to specify that in case that a pluralityof transmission units that are continuous in a time domain have beenscheduled, remaining plurality of transmission units are scheduled whenthe remaining plurality of transmission units are discontinuous in thetime domain caused by occupied transmission units existing in theplurality of transmission units that are continuous in the time domain,and the base station is configured to determine the scheduledtransmission units according to the scheduling rule.

It should be noted that during scheduling between the base station andthe terminal provided in the above embodiments are exemplified only bytaking the division of the above functional modules as an example. Inpractical applications, the above functions may be allocated bydifferent functional modules as required, that is, internal structuresof the terminal and the base station are divided into differentfunctional modules to complete all or part of the functions describedabove. In addition, the base station and the terminal provided by theabove embodiments belong to the same concept as the embodiment of thescheduling method, and specific implementation processes thereof aredescribed in the method embodiments, and are not described herein again.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a base station according to anexemplary embodiment. With reference to FIG. 8 , the base stationincludes a processor 801; a memory 802, which is configured to storeprocessor-executable instructions; and a transceiver 803. Among them,the processor 801 is configured to:

transmit a scheduling signaling to a terminal by the transceiver 803,wherein the scheduling signaling includes indication information forindicating a plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in atime domain, and the terminal is configured to receive the schedulingsignaling and determine the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain according to the indicationinformation; and

exchange data with the terminal through the plurality of transmissionunits.

The embodiment of the present disclosure further discloses acomputer-readable storage medium. An instruction in thecomputer-readable storage medium causes a base station to perform thescheduling method in the above embodiment when being executed by aprocessor of the base station.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing a terminal 900 according to anexemplary embodiment. For example, the terminal 900 may be a mobilephone, a computer, a digital broadcasting apparatus, a messaging device,a game console, a tablet device, a medical device, a fitness device, apersonal digital assistant, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 9 , the apparatus 900 may include one or more of thefollowing components: a processing component 902, a memory 904, a powercomponent 906, a multimedia component 908, an audio component 910, aninput/output (I/O) interface 912, a sensor component 914, and acommunication component 916.

The processing component 902 typically controls the overall operationsof the apparatus 900, such as the operations associated with display,telephone calls, data communications, camera operations, and recordingoperations. The processing component 902 may include one or moreprocessors 920 to execute instructions to perform all or part of thesteps in the above described methods. Moreover, the processing component902 may include one or more modules which facilitate the interactionbetween the processing component 902 and other components. For instance,the processing component 902 may include a multimedia module tofacilitate the interaction between the multimedia component 908 and theprocessing component 902.

The memory 904 is configured to store various types of data to supportthe operation of the apparatus 900. Examples of such data includeinstructions for any applications or methods operated on the apparatus900, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, etc. Thememory 904 may be implemented by using any type of volatile ornon-volatile memory devices, or a combination thereof, such as a staticrandom access memory (SRAM), an electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory(EPROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), a read-only memory(ROM), a magnetic memory, a flash memory, a magnetic or optical disk.

The power component 906 provides power to various components of theapparatus 900. The power component 906 may include a power managementsystem, one or more power sources, and any other components associatedwith the generation, management, and distribution of power in theapparatus 900.

The multimedia component 908 includes a screen providing an outputinterface between the apparatus 900 and the user. In some embodiments,the screen may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel(TP). If the screen includes the touch panel, the screen may beimplemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from the user.The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touches,swipes, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensors may not onlysense a boundary of a touch or swipe action, but also sense the durationand pressure associated with the touch or swipe action. In someembodiments, the multimedia component 908 includes a front camera and/ora rear camera. The front camera and the rear camera may receive externalmultimedia data while the apparatus 900 is in an operation mode, such asa photographing mode or a video mode. Each of the front camera and therear camera may be a fixed optical lens system or have focus and opticalzoom capability.

The audio component 910 is configured to output and/or input audiosignals. For example, the audio component 910 includes a microphone(MIC) configured to receive external audio signals when the apparatus900 is in an operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, anda voice recognition mode. The received audio signal may be furtherstored in the memory 904 or transmitted via the communication component916. In some embodiments, the audio component 910 further includes aspeaker for outputting audio signals.

The I/O interface 912 provides an interface between the processingcomponent 902 and peripheral interface modules, such as a keyboard, aclick wheel, buttons, and the like. The buttons may include, but are notlimited to, a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lockbutton.

The sensor component 914 includes one or more sensors to provide statusassessments of various aspects of the apparatus 900. For instance, thesensor component 914 may detect an on/off status of the apparatus 900,relative positioning of components. e.g., the display device and themini keyboard of the apparatus 900, and the sensor component 914 mayalso detect a position change of the apparatus 900 or a component of theapparatus 900, presence or absence of user contact with the apparatus900, orientation or acceleration/deceleration of the apparatus 900, andtemperature change of the apparatus 900. The sensor component 914 mayinclude a proximity sensor configured to detect the presence of nearbyobjects without any physical contact. The sensor component 914 may alsoinclude a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, used forimaging applications. In some embodiments, the sensor component 914 mayalso include an accelerometer sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magneticsensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

The communication component 916 is configured to facilitatecommunication, wired or wirelessly, between the apparatus 900 and otherdevices. The apparatus 900 can access a wireless network based on acommunication standard, such as WiFi, 2G, or 3G, or a combinationthereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 916receives broadcast signals or broadcast associated information from anexternal broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In anexemplary embodiment, the communication component 916 further includes anear field communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-rangecommunications. For example, the NFC module may be implemented based ona radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, an infrared dataassociation (IrDA) technology, an ultra-wideband (UWB) technology, aBluetooth (BT) technology, and other technologies.

In exemplary embodiments, the apparatus 900 may be implemented with oneor more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signalprocessors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs),programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, or otherelectronic components, for performing the above described methods.

In exemplary embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium including instructions is also provided, such as the memory 904including instructions, executable by the processor 920 in the apparatus900, for performing the above-described methods. For example, thenon-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be a ROM, a RAM, aCD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, an optical data storage device,and the like.

Further, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium. Aninstruction in the computer-readable storage medium causes a terminal toperform the method in the above embodiment when being executed by aprocessor of the terminal. The method includes:

receiving a scheduling signaling transmitted by the base station,wherein the scheduling signaling includes indication information forindicating a plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in atime domain;

determining the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuousin the time domain according to the instruction information; and

exchanging data with the base station through the plurality oftransmission units.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part ofthe steps described in the above embodiments can be completed throughhardware, or through relevant hardware instructed by applications storedin a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, such as aread-only memory, a disk or a CD, etc.

The foregoing descriptions are merely optional embodiments of thepresent disclosure, and are not intended to limit the presentdisclosure. Within the spirit and principles of the disclosure, anymodifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., are withinthe protection scope of the present disclosure.

1. A scheduling method, performed by a base station, and comprising:determining scheduled transmission units according to a scheduling rule,wherein the scheduling rule is configured to specify that in case that aplurality of transmission units that are continuous in a time domainhave been scheduled, a remaining plurality of transmission units arescheduled when the remaining plurality of transmission units arediscontinuous in the time domain, which is caused by occupiedtransmission units existing in the plurality of transmission units thatare continuous in the time domain, wherein a terminal is configured todetermine the scheduled transmission units according to the schedulingrule.
 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:transmitting a scheduling signaling to the terminal, wherein thescheduling signaling comprises indication information for indicating aplurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in the timedomain, and the terminal is configured to receive the schedulingsignaling and determine the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain according to the indicationinformation; and exchanging data with the terminal through the pluralityof transmission units.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein theindication information comprises location information of the pluralityof transmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain; thelocation information of the transmission units comprises start locationsand end locations of the transmission units; or the location informationof the transmission units comprises start locations and continuationlengths of the transmission units, and end locations of the transmissionunits are determined by the start locations and the continuation lengthsof the transmission units.
 4. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: transmitting a transmission unit index table to theterminal, wherein the transmission unit index table comprises atransmission unit configuration corresponding to each index identifier,the transmission unit configuration comprises a scheduling identifierfor each transmission unit, the scheduling identifier is a firstidentifier indicating that a corresponding transmission unit isscheduled, or the scheduling identifier is a second identifierindicating that a corresponding transmission unit is not scheduled;wherein the indication information is an index identifier, and theterminal is configured to receive the scheduling signaling, query thetransmission unit index table according to the index identifier,determine the transmission unit configuration corresponding to the indexidentifier, and determine transmission units for which the schedulingidentifier is the first identifier in the transmission unitconfiguration as scheduled transmission units.
 5. The method accordingto claim 2, wherein the indication information is positioned in aninformation field at a fixed location of the scheduling signaling, and abit length of the indication information is fixed or determined byconfiguration.
 6. A scheduling method, performed by a terminal, andcomprising: determining scheduled transmission units according to ascheduling rule, wherein the scheduling rule is configured to specifythat in case that a plurality of transmission units that are continuousin a time domain have been scheduled, a remaining plurality oftransmission units are scheduled when the remaining plurality oftransmission units are discontinuous in the time domain, which is causedby occupied transmission units existing in the plurality of transmissionunits that are continuous in the time domain, wherein a base station isconfigured to determine the scheduled transmission units according tothe scheduling rule.
 7. The method according to claim 6, furthercomprising: receiving a scheduling signaling transmitted by the basestation, wherein the scheduling signaling comprises indicationinformation for indicating a plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain; determining the plurality oftransmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain accordingto the indication information; and exchanging data with the base stationthrough the plurality of transmission units.
 8. The method according toclaim 7, wherein the indication information comprises locationinformation of the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain; the location information of thetransmission units comprises start locations and end locations of thetransmission units; or the location information of the transmissionunits comprises start locations and continuation lengths of thetransmission units, and end locations of the transmission units aredetermined by the start locations and the continuation lengths of thetransmission units.
 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein theindication information is an index identifier, and the determining theplurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in the timedomain according to the indication information comprises: querying atransmission unit index table according to the index identifier,determining a transmission unit configuration corresponding to the indexidentifier, and determining transmission units for which a schedulingidentifier is a first identifier in the transmission unit configurationas scheduled transmission units, wherein the transmission unit indextable comprises the transmission unit configuration corresponding toeach index identifier, the transmission unit configuration comprises thescheduling identifier for each transmission unit, the schedulingidentifier is the first identifier indicating that a correspondingtransmission unit is scheduled, or the scheduling identifier is a secondidentifier indicating that a corresponding transmission unit is notscheduled.
 10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the indicationinformation is positioned in an information field at a fixed location ofthe scheduling signaling, and a bit length of the indication informationis fixed or determined by configuration.
 11. A base station, comprising:a processor; and a memory storing instructions executable by theprocessor; wherein the processor is configured to: determine scheduledtransmission units according to a scheduling rule, wherein thescheduling rule is configured to specify that in case that a pluralityof transmission units that are continuous in a time domain have beenscheduled, a remaining plurality of transmission units are scheduledwhen the remaining plurality of transmission units are discontinuous inthe time domain, which is caused by occupied transmission units existingin the plurality of transmission units that are continuous in the timedomain, wherein a terminal is configured to determine the scheduledtransmission units according to the scheduling rule.
 12. The basestation according to claim 11, wherein the processor is furtherconfigured to: transmit a scheduling signaling to the terminal, whereinthe scheduling signaling comprises indication information for indicatinga plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in the timedomain, and the terminal is configured to receive the schedulingsignaling and determine the plurality of transmission units that arediscontinuous in the time domain according to the indicationinformation; and exchange data with the terminal through the pluralityof transmission units.
 13. The base station according to claim 12,wherein the indication information comprises location information of theplurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in the timedomain; the location information of the transmission units comprisesstart locations and end locations of the transmission units; or thelocation information of the transmission units comprises start locationsand continuation lengths of the transmission units, and end locations ofthe transmission units are determined by the start locations and thecontinuation lengths of the transmission units.
 14. The base stationaccording to claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to:transmit a transmission unit index table to the terminal, wherein thetransmission unit index table comprises a transmission unitconfiguration corresponding to each index identifier, the transmissionunit configuration comprises a scheduling identifier for eachtransmission unit, the scheduling identifier is a first identifierindicating that a corresponding transmission unit is scheduled, or thescheduling identifier is a second identifier indicating that acorresponding transmission unit is not scheduled; wherein the indicationinformation is an index identifier, and the terminal is configured toreceive the scheduling signaling, query the transmission unit indextable according to the index identifier, determine a transmission unitconfiguration corresponding to the index identifier, and determinetransmission units for which the scheduling identifier is the firstidentifier in the transmission unit configuration as scheduledtransmission units.
 15. The method according to claim 12, wherein theindication information is positioned in an information field at a fixedlocation of the scheduling signaling, and a bit length of the indicationinformation is fixed or determined by configuration.